Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to as staph, is the causative organism for staph infection. It commonly appears on the skin and in the nasal passage of even healthy persons. Healthy people can be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus and have no ill effects. (See References 1) A staph bacterium can enter the wound and cause infections when a cut goes beyond the top layer of the skin. This can cause infections like cellulitis, impetigo and toxic shock syndrome. (See References 2) Most staph infections can be easily treated with antibiotic therapy.
Clindamycin
Emergence of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus has left us with the spectre of very few effective antibiotics being available to treat staphylococcal infections. Clindamycin is successfully cures some serious skin and soft tissue infections caused by staphylococcal bacteria. (See References 5) It works by inhibiting bacterial growth, possibly by preventing the movement of peptidyl transfer RNA from ribosomes, which subsequently arrest the RNA-dependent protein synthesis, according to The National Center for Biotechnology Information. (See References 4)
Telavancin
Telavancin, a synthetic derivative of vancomycin, is particularly effective against a broad spectrum of clinically relevant gram-positive bacteria. This multifunctional lipoglycopeptide antibiotic is chiefly used in the form of its hydrochloride against staphylococci resistant to methicillin. Telavancin is derived from actinomycete, any of an order of filamentous or rod-shaped bacteria, such as Amycolatopsis orientalis. It Inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis by preventing both the polymerization reaction, a chemical reaction in which two or more molecules combine to form larger molecules of the precursor into peptidoglycan, a polymer composed of polysaccharide and peptide chains, and subsequent cross-linking events, according to the American Society of Microbiology.
Daptomycin
Daptomycin is a novel antibiotic agent, the first cyclic lipopeptide to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The clinical use of daptomycin may be limited to Gram-positive cocci, including methicillin-resistant staphylococcus. Daptomycin binds to the proteins within the bacterial cell membrane, forming an ion conduction structure which allows rapid membrane potential depolarization. This action leads to bacterial cell death by arresting DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, according to the National Cancer Institute.
